REBELS COMPETE AT WAC CHAMPIONSHIPS THIS WEEK
Senior Tom Pac-Pedroni is a favorite to contend for several individual titles
The UNLV Rebel men are off to this week’s 2017 WAC Swimming and Diving Championships, which will run from Wednesday, Feb. 22-Saturday, Feb. 25 in Houston, Texas at the CRWC Natatorium on the campus of the University of Houston. Preliminaries will begin at 10:30 am (CT) all four days while the night finals will have a 6:00 pm (CT) start beginning on Wednesday.
The Rebels have their sights set on surpassing last year’s finish of fourth place. Looking to pace UNLV’s efforts this season are Tom Paco-Pedroni (France) and Or Sabatier (Israel), who redshirted last season to train for the Olympic trials. Paco-Pedroni brings the league’s top time in the 100 free (43.00) into the week and ranks 23rd in the nation. He also posts ‘B’ cut times in the 200 free (1:37.55, fourth) and 50 free (20.14, eighth). Sabatier earned the league’s fifth-fastest time in the 100 free (43.90, ‘B’ cut time) and is seventh in the 50 free (20.02).
Also looking to pace UNLV’s efforts this season is Kasey Foley, who’s slated sixth in the 50 free (20.01) into the week and is seventh in the 100 free (43.99), both ‘B’ cut times. Avi Cohen, slotted fourth in the 200 fly (1:48.69), and Francois Van Wynsberghe, who’s eighth in the 200 breast (2:02.41) are also expected to be a strong contenders in their events this weekend. Another event that has been a positive for UNLV this season has been the top 400 free relay squad featuring Paco-Pedroni, Sabatier, Forrest Beesley and Foley (2:54.06), who’s 20th in the nation.
Live video and results, team scores, event highlights and more from the meet is available on the WAC Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship Central page at www.wacsports.com/live. All live broadcasts are free of charge. Links will be available on UNLVRebels.com as well.
Fans also can follow the championships through the league’s social media channels on Twitter (@WACsports), Facebook (WesternAthleticConference) and Instagram (@WACsports) for updates on each day’s events.